


Cinnamon Rolls

by Coronet



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Backstory, Fluff, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:57:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3680544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coronet/pseuds/Coronet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She decides to fight the titans but has to leave behind her father - and his cinnamon rolls. </p><p>Based on a tumblr writing prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cinnamon Rolls

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that english is not my native language, there might be mistakes and I´m very sorry for that, so please contact me about possible mistakes!   
> This is just a short snippet but I hope it´s enjoyable~

“You´re going to kill yourself.”   
The wind blew softly through the nearby trees and let the leaves rustle against each other. For a moment Petra sat in silence on the bench before she answered to her father.   
“Maybe…”  
She couldn´t deny it. Having opted for the Survey Corps it would be likely that she wouldn´t make it to her next birthday – at least not in a whole piece. But still she had a good and valid reason, something she had spent enough sleepless nights about.  
“You may not understand now, but I want to help.”   
Her father, his hands clutched nervously around a cup of hot tea, looked down in despondency. Petra followed his gaze across the dying grass and the spare flowers, which reluctantly fought their way out of the dry earth, towards the old tombstone.   
Before old grief could take her over, her father reached out for her hand. She felt how he softly caressed her hand with his. His hands were covered in calluses from years of hardworking, but they showed the dedication which with he had worked for his and his family’s living. He had always told her when she was little; that behind every single scar there was a story about how he loved his family. Everything he had done, he had done out of love.   
‘Without love or dedication there wouldn´t be scars, because without love… you wouldn´t fight.’  
She squeezed his hand and smiled at him.   
“I´m sorry that I´ve got too much of my mother’s spirit”, she winked at him.   
A small smile tugged at his lips when he again looked over to the tombstone.  
“You´re really coming after her”, he nodded.   
“I guess not everyone wants to save the world by baking bread.”  
He let out a faked sigh and Petra poked him playfully in the side.   
“I just can´t compete with your ultimate baking skills!”  
“You better watch out when I kill Titans by throwing bread at them”, her father yelled back in amusement.  
Hands raised over her head she laughed out loud.  
“I surrender to you, Commander Buns! Only you can save the world!”  
Still laughing the two of them leaned back and enjoyed the summer breeze. Behind the uncounted rows of graves the sun was slowly going down, bathing the world in golden light. In moments like this Petra could almost forget which horrors waited behind the stone walls that limited the world she knew; if it weren´t for the tombstones, remembering her of the death that awaited everyone there. It was an odd tradition between her and her father, that every time she had a free day from the trainee corps they would visit the old memorial park. They called it a ‘family reunion’ – words that needed to be taken with a pinch of salt.   
Isobel Ral was dead, had died a long time ago, long enough to alleviate the grief. She was still being missed every day, but if there was one lesson to be learned, it was that life continued, no matter what.   
Now Edden Ral could laugh again and had decided that he would take picnics with his daughter at the graveyard. It offered a nice view over the whole district of Karanese and he felt at least very near to his dear passed wife. Every difficult decision affecting the family would be discussed here. He liked the idea that Isobel could still be a part of their life this way. Of course some people would call this by not so nice names; hence he kept it a secret.   
He looked over to his daughter. She really came after her mother. The same stern expression when she talked about the things that were important to her, but also the same smile filled her face from when she was happy. In the rest she was the perfect mixture of both of him and Isobel. Her hair was not as ginger as Isobel´s but with a nice touch of brown. Unlike her mother she kept her hair short since she´d begun training. That was the one thing that made her different and the reason why he´d came with her here.   
She wanted to fight the titans. Without his knowledge she had sneaked away and had enlisted to the military. Not only that, but also she had now, that her training was coming to an end, decided to join the most reckless and suicidal branch – the Survey Corps.  
“I´d really wish that you´d like bread more.”  
She threw him a flippant look and exclaimed:  
“I like bread. As food.”  
Nudging him she took a bite from the fresh bread they´d brought with them.  
“What´ve I only done wrong when passing my genes?”  
Petra leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.  
“Nothing. You´ve made me the best person I could be.”  
Holding up one buttered croissant he accusingly looked at her and asked:  
“But why aren´t you able to bake some fine croissants then?”  
“I`ve learned to brew a fine tea. That must be enough and according to Commander Erwin –“  
“Tea, tea. You won´t get a man who´s that much into tea”,   
Edden teased her.  
“Learn how to make some cinnamon rolls and –“  
This time it was Petra´s turn to interrupt. Softly she smacked at his arm.   
He let out a feigned ‘Ouch’ when she explained:  
“I´m going to fight Titans, not search for the perfect man. I guess you´ll have to wait before I want to settle down. Then – and only then – when can talk about making cinnamon rolls!”  
“At least you´re willing to learn”, he sighed.  
“Don´t worry. Commander Erwin has assigned me great abilities, so I guess I´m not hopeless. Besides… he told me that I may be getting a place in his Special Operations Squad if I show enough courage…”  
She let the rest of the sentence go adrift.  
In the past Edden had often doomed the choice of his only child. He wanted her to be safe; of course he wanted to protect her. But she was grown now and he knew that he would be losing her either way at some point.   
And at least he could say that she made a very noble decision. Fighting for something she loved – she wasn´t that different after all.   
“I feel like your mother is whispering me in the ear that I should let our little warrior princess go and slash all the titans…”  
With trembling hand he pushed a strand of her hair aside and looked her deeply in the eyes.  
“Be victorious, my little princess.”  
He planted a light kiss on her forehead.  
“And when you´ve rescued yourself a prince I´ll teach you how to do perfect cinnamon rolls.”  
Petra giggled a little at the thought of herself carrying a grown man home in her arms.  
“I love you, dad.”  
She leaned her head onto his shoulder and together they watched the sun going down.


End file.
